Prior art fire prevention systems used in vehicles are known which provide shock actuated devices to initiate the operation of the system. U.S. Pat. No. 2,338,440, issued to W. Kochman, on Jan. 4, 1944 for "FIRE EXTINGUISHING AND PREVENTING SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES" is of interest in this regard. It does not however provide a foam generation action from a number of different points in the vehicles as provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,011 issued to E. J. Poitras, on Apr. 8, 1975 for "APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING AND EXTINGUISHING AUTOMOBILE FIRES" is of interest but the system shown is primarily directed and limited to a fire inhibiting liquid which is directed to coat the fuel tank and prevent its ignition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,428 issued to Ben Ingro on June 12, 1973 for "SAFETY FUEL TANKS" relates to a specialized fire extinguishing system for tank trucks. While a fire foam is automatically dispensed, it is limited to a localized and specialized tank area on the tank truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,660,992 issued to O. R. Erwin on Feb. 28, 1928 for "FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS". This patent relates to a foam system in which the foam generation is provided in a closed system with a number of mixing chambers distributed throughout the engine compartment. The single valve means is used to provide communication between the various chambers and the mixing chambers.
None of the prior art systems shows a portable foam generator like the one provided by the instant invention which acts not only to extinguish the fire once started, but also provides for prevention of fires after each collision which might occur.
The system is further readily adaptable to any vehicle and involves only a limited amount of space to be used, for example in the luggage compartment of the vehicle.